India’s Top CEOs Ambani, Birla and Chandrasekaran Courted for Northeast Development

Agartala: With an ambitious plan to turn the Northeast into India’s new growth engine, Union Minister for Communications and Minister of Development of North Eastern Region (MDoNER), Jyotiraditya M. Scindia, engaged with the country’s top business leaders on Wednesday, seeking strong private sector participation ahead of a high-stakes investment summit.

The Minister met industry stalwarts including Mukesh Ambani (Reliance Industries), Kumar Mangalam Birla (Aditya Birla Group), and N. Chandrasekaran (Tata Sons) in Mumbai as part of the government’s efforts to promote the upcoming “Rising Northeast Summit 2025”, scheduled for May 23-24 in New Delhi at Bharat Mandapam.

“The goal is to integrate the eight states into one unified development goal as India’s growth engine,” Scindia said, underlining the Centre’s strategic vision for the region. Stressing the importance of public-private partnerships, he added that sustainable development in the Northeast would be possible only through active collaboration between the government and India Inc.

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The Minister also briefed the industrialists on key policy measures undertaken by the Ministry of DoNER to facilitate investment. Among them were the formation of a High-Level Task Force comprising Chief Ministers of all eight Northeastern states and the creation of Investment Promotion Agencies (IPAs) in each state to streamline investor engagement and ease of doing business.

Joining the discussions, Dharmvir Jha, Statistical Advisor to the Ministry of DoNER, presented a detailed overview of investment-ready sectors in the region. These include agro-based industries, textiles, tourism, and other region-specific opportunities that have remained underexplored.

Industry insiders familiar with the meetings said the response from corporate leaders was “positive and encouraging,” as many expressed interest in exploring tailored investment opportunities in the region.

The interactions in Mumbai are part of an ongoing outreach campaign to ensure robust participation at the Rising Northeast Summit 2025. The summit aims to bring together investors, policymakers, and other key stakeholders on a common platform to unlock the economic potential of the region, which has often been described as India’s most scenic yet underutilised frontier.

(With inputs from PIB)